Saratoga: ‘Cool’ car show draws thousands downtown

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Ashley Diamond, with her boyfriend David Wobber, sits in her 1913 Model T entered in the Saratoga Classic Car Show on Big Basin Way in Saratoga, Calif., Sunday, July 17, 2016. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

SARATOGA — The catchall car show that lined the main drag with flawless polished steel on Sunday doesn’t have a theme — it’s not just for American muscle or low riders or any particular vintage.

A car doesn’t even have to be a classic to be presented curbside on Big Basin Way at the Saratoga Classic Car Show.

But it’s got to be cool, said Tiger Teerlink, president of the Cool Car Club and founder of the event, which is now in its seventh year and growing.

“We just ask the owner — and if they think it’s cool, then it can come,” said Teerlink, a longtime Saratoga resident. “But while it’s great to have a cool car, what’s even better is a cool car with a cool story behind it.”

Teerlink’s fond of telling the tales of his automotive menagerie, a portion of which was on display on Sunday. But the story-meter goes haywire for his ’64 Cadillac Coupe DeVille that used to be owned by comedic actor Buddy Hackett, who died in 2003. As Teerlink tells it, Hackett got wasted with some members of the Rat Pack one Las Vegas night and careened the boat-sized ride into the fountains at Caesars Palace.

Then there’s Steve McCann’s 1952 Henry J. — “You could buy these in the Sears Roebuck catalog,” he said — that appeared rougher around the edges than its cherried-out neighbors. It’s got a clear-coat protecting sanded-down paint, giving it a rust-and-dull-black patina. And there’s a finger-sized hole in the driver’s side door.

“The body’s original, the paint’s original and the bullet hole is original,” said McCann, of Santa Clara, who bought the otherwise modded and hot-rodded coupe about five years ago. But unfortunately he doesn’t have a back story to top Teerlink’s tale.

“Maybe an angry wife?” McCann speculated.

Most of the entries hailed from the immediate area: There’s no shortage of head-turning rides in the wealthy enclaves set in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. And Teerlink said that was the original notion of the event back when it was just 30 car freaks clustered in a parking lot — to have something for the locals.

“It’s a small-town car show that made it big,” he said, “and now it’s the most desirable car show in the South Bay.”

On Sunday, more than 250 of the cool rides attracted thousands of oglers. While the number of entries is about the same as last year, Amanda Rosas of the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce was hoping to bump up attendance from about 8,000 last year to as many as 12,000 for the single-day event. The show started at 10 a.m. and the area’s main thoroughfare — which was closed for the event for the second year — was bustling by lunchtime.

Bob Black and Ed Ching, visiting from San Carlos to check out the show, said they were pleasantly surprised by the number of vehicles on display. Black said that while he’s not an auto aficionado, sometimes he “needs to have a fix now and then” of beautiful steel.

But he added that he noticed a conspicuous absence of what he called industry failures.

“I’m not seeing the Corvair — and missing it,” he said. “And the Pinto. We need to have a Pinto here!”

Teerlink isn’t averse to such entries, but one brand he singled out as definitely not being in the cool car category could be considered surprising.

“Teslas are so common around here — that’s nothing to see,” he said. “Nobody is going to come to a car show to see a Tesla.”